DOORKEEPERS

Content filters protect a web user’s privacy and keep the flood of unsolicited advertising at bay. We’ll show you a pair of popular Open Source content filters.

Content filters are useful for preventing unrestricted traffic bet-ween browsers and web servers. A good content filter only allows the traffic the user really wants, keeping the browser clear of junk advertising, web bugs, cookies, and unwanted Javascript. Some filters can also manage outgoing traffic. A properly configured content filter can even protect you against browser security holes which, unfortunately, are still extremely common. This article investigates the Privoxy [1] and Webcleaner [2] content filters. Both tools provide content filtering, but whereas Privoxy focuses on web content, Webcleaner has a variety of additional features, such as a virus filter and an image compressor.